Cops: Man fatally shot brother, then killed self

Published 10:29 pm, Monday, October 8, 2012

Photo: Paul Schott

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Police cruisers were parked outside 10 Rustic Lane at approximately 11 a.m., as police investigated a death in Westport that may be linked to a fatal shooting Monday morning in New Haven. Monday, Oct. 8, 2012/ Westport, CT less

Police cruisers were parked outside 10 Rustic Lane at approximately 11 a.m., as police investigated a death in Westport that may be linked to a fatal shooting Monday morning in New Haven. Monday, Oct. 8, 2012/ ... more

Photo: Paul Schott

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An ambulance on the scene of a fatal shooting at Electrix on Spring St. in New Haven, Conn., Oct. 8, 2012.

An ambulance on the scene of a fatal shooting at Electrix on Spring St. in New Haven, Conn., Oct. 8, 2012.

Photo: Contributed

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An ambulance on the scene of a fatal shooting at Electrix on Spring St. in New Haven, Oct. 8, 2012.

An ambulance on the scene of a fatal shooting at Electrix on Spring St. in New Haven, Oct. 8, 2012.

Photo: Contributed

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Stunned workers stand outside Electrix in New Haven, where the owner was shot and killed, Oct. 8, 2012.

Stunned workers stand outside Electrix in New Haven, where the owner was shot and killed, Oct. 8, 2012.

Photo: WTNH News 8

Cops: Man fatally shot brother, then killed self

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A Fairfield man was shot and killed Monday morning outside the family's business in New Haven by his brother, who later shot himself in what authorities are investigating as a murder-suicide.

Gordon Shwisha, 45, of Birch Road in Fairfield, was shot multiple times as he sat in his car outside the family's lighting-fixtures business on Spring Street in New Haven, according to New Haven police. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooter, Daniel Shwisha, 47, of Woodbridge, then drove to their parents' home in Westport, where police there said he shot himself in the head about 45 minutes later.

WTNH-TV cited unnamed sources as saying the brothers were involved in a dispute about the business, Electrix Inc.

The company manufactures lighting fixtures. Documents on file with the Secretary of the State's Office list Gordon Shwisha as the corporate secretary and Daniel Shwisha as a director.

Employees arriving there for work about 7:45 a.m. heard gunshots and called police, who found Gordon Shwisha in his Jeep Grand Cherokee. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to Officer David Hartman, a New Haven police spokesman.

After shooting his brother, authorities said, Daniel Shwisha drove to their parents' home in the Greens Farms section of Westport and shot himself in the head about 8:30 a.m.

The parents -- Electrix president Haim Shwisha and his wife, Birthe Shwisha -- called 911. Daniel Shwisha was transported to Norwalk Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Westport police said.

Westport authorities said they had not been aware of Daniel Shwisha's involvement in the New Haven shooting when ETMs were dispatched to the Rustic Lane home.

While Daniel Shwisha was being treated, Westport police received a call from New Haven authorities alerting them that Daniel Shwisha was a suspect in the New Haven shooting and likely was headed to the Rustic Lane home. Westport authorities already had responded to the self-inflicted shooting, police said.

Westport police detectives are working with New Haven police in an ongoing investigation.

Hartman said the case is being investigated as a murder-suicide.

The nine-room, split-level home where Daniel Shwisha killed himself is in Westport's Greens Farms section and is owned by Birthe Shwisha, according to assessor's records.

The family business is a manufacturer of architectural lighting fixtures founded in 1962, according to its website. Among its clients, Electrix Inc. lists Lincoln Center, the New York Times and IBM in New York City and Diageo plc, the Norwalk distributor of spirits, beer and wine.